With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, now is the perfect time to start thinking about your heart’s health! Heart disease is one of the most widespread and costly health problems in the United States and luckily, also one of the most preventable! So, before you embark on a romantic V-Day getaway or make your candle-lite dinner reservations, consider these five foods to make your heart healthy and happy.

Cruciferous Veggies (AKA Cabbage Family)

Simply adding veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, watercress and cabbage can help promote heart health, overall longevity and have even been associated with a 16% reduction in cardiovascular disease! Give this Brussels Sprouts with Pecans & Shallots recipe a try for a simple, delicious and heart-conscious side dish this Valentine’s Day. In a hurry? We also recommend looking at your local Albertsons for bags of washed and ready-to-toss kale and cabbage salads for lunches and ready-to-microwave Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower florets for quick week night veggies.

Dark Chocolate & Cocoa

Luckily, you won’t have to skimp on the sweets this Valentine’s Day! Adding .33 ounces of dark chocolate or 1.5 tablespoons of cocoa powder to your diet 3 to 4 times a week has been associated with lowering risk of heart attack. Opt for dark chocolate instead of milk or white for a sweet treat loaded with antioxidants and nutrients that help to improve blood pressure, blood lipids and overall vascular health. Try this Heart Smart Designer Hot Cocoa recipe for a V-Day dessert that is both heavenly and heart-healthy! And if you’re like us and thinking “this must be too good to be true,” remember the use of cacao as a health benefit dates back at least 3,000 years!

Omega-3s

Regular consumption (2 or more times a week) of fatty fish, like salmon, is associated with a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular death. When you include Omega-3 rich foods, you add important antioxidants, promote anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting actions, all while promoting overall heart and vascular health. Whenever possible, add albacore tuna (from the can or pouch) to sandwiches, salads or casseroles. For your Valentine’s Day entrée, try this Fast Italian-Style Fish & Even Faster Lemon Sauce!

Oats

This Valentine’s Day, treat your loved one (or yourself) to breakfast in bed! This Overnight Oatmeal Pancake recipe is not only swoon-worthy, but also totally heart-smart! Oats have known benefits in the prevention of heart disease, improvement in blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Old-fashioned oats can be used in a variety of recipes, like overnight oats, oatmeal, as a binder in meatloaf, or as a coating on fish or chicken. Keep a container of oats on hand so you can throw this heart-healthy helper in throughout the week!

Nuts

According to a recent clinical trial, consuming mixed nuts (about an ounce per day) lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease by 30%! Those are huge results for such a small snack! With heart-healthy fats, plant compounds, fiber, protein, vitamins, the list goes on, it’s no wonder nuts pack such a powerful punch! Sprinkle nuts on your oatmeal, yogurt and salads, leaving the skin on for maximum antioxidant activity! For snacking, try this Spicy Nut Mix!

Adding these simple foods to your Valentine’s Day (and everyday!) menu, along with regular physical exercise, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy body weight, may help prevent cardiovascular disease.

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Dozens of headlines have proclaimed the health benefits of chocolate. But does it really measure up? A report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition pooled studies to get the “low down” on chocolate’s effects on cardiovascular health and found that chocolate does indeed have many heart health benefits, including a few unexpected ones.

Digging deep

Researchers from the UK, Australia, and the US reviewed hundreds of studies on chocolate and cardiovascular health. They narrowed their analysis to 42 higher quality studies that included a total of 1,297 people. The goal was to highlight any reductions in heart disease risk from chocolate, cocoa, or a type of bioflavonoid found in chocolate (flavan-3-ols).

After selecting the studies, the team looked at the effects of chocolate on these measures of heart-disease risk:

triglycerides

cholesterol levels

blood pressure

insulin levels

insulin resistance

a measure of blood vessel function (flow-mediated dilation)

Chocolate cure

All of the studies included in the analysis may have been biased, some because they were funded by the chocolate industry, and others because of less-than-perfect research methods. However, a few common threads were seen throughout.

Insulin levels dropped significantly and insulin sensitivity improved in response to chocolate, a previously unreported connection. Insulin sensitivity refers to the ability of the body’s cells to respond appropriately to the insulin that’s in the blood stream. When people have poor insulin sensitivity (known as insulin resistance), blood sugar may stay at above-normal levels.

Blood vessel function improved significantly, regardless of the amount of chocolate consumed. The authors attributed the increase to the flavan-3-ols found in chocolate. Studies have shown that for each 1% increase in flow-mediated dilation, the risk of cardiovascular events (like heart attack and stroke) dropped by 13%. “The 1.3% increase associated with chronic chocolate intake in this review would have important consequences for cardiovascular risk, and in combination with improved insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular effects may be substantial,” commented the authors.

Diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number on a blood pressure reading) dropped by an average of 1.6 mm Hg after chocolate consumption.

Think before you snack

The review confirmed much of what was thought to be true about chocolate’s effects on heart health. It lowers blood pressure, improves insulin sensitivity, and improves flow-mediated dilation. But there are other ways to get these same great benefits, without the fat and sugar that often go with chocolate and which present other risks, such as weight gain. Here a just a few.

Go for a walk. Or a run. Or a swim. Exercise is one of the best ways to improve insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure, and increase your HDL cholesterol.

Get green. Eating an abundance of green leafy vegetables like kale, collard greens, spinach, and chard can help you maintain an ideal weight, lower your blood pressure, and decrease your diabetes and heart disease risk.

Go fish. Omega-3 fatty acids found in cold water fish like salmon can help improve flow-mediated dilation and lower your risk of heart disease.

(Am J Clin Nutr 2012;doi: 10.3945/ajcn.111.023457)

Kimberly Beauchamp, ND, received her doctoral degree from Bastyr University, the nation’s premier academic institution for science-based natural medicine. She co-founded South County Naturopaths in Wakefield, RI, where she practiced whole family care with an emphasis on nutritional counseling, herbal medicine, detoxification, and food allergy identification and treatment. Her blog, Eat Happy, helps take the drama out of healthy eating with real food recipes and nutrition news that you can use. Dr. Beauchamp is a regular contributor to Healthnotes Newswire.

Healthy Fats for Healthy Gums

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It should come as no surprise to find that what we put in our mouths can affect the health of our mouths, as well as the rest of our bodies. A new study highlights this truth, finding that people who eat a diet rich in omega-3 fats from fish have less gum disease than people who don’t.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, used data from a large ongoing survey called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). It included information gathered from the dental examinations of over 9,000 participants.

Fish fats protect gums

The researchers found that eating a diet that provides polyunsaturated fatty acids had an impact on gum (periodontal) health:

People with the most dietary DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid found primarily in fish oil) were 20% less likely to have gum disease than people with the least dietary DHA.

People with higher intake of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid, another omega-3 fatty acid from fish oil) also had lower incidence of gum disease.

High intake of alpha-linolenic acid (the omega-3 fatty acid found primarily in vegetable oils) was also associated with lower gum disease risk, but the difference was not statistically significant.

A commentary published in the same issue points out three major findings of the study:

A significantly reduced risk of gum disease was seen in people with modest dietary intakes of DHA (about 280 mg per week) and EPA (about 70 mg per week).

There appears to be a threshold, such that people with very high intakes of the omega-3 fats had the same gum disease risk reduction as people with more modest intake.

Taking DHA and EPA supplements was not necessary to experience the full benefit of these fatty acids.

Gums: a window to the heart

It may be no coincidence that omega-3 fatty acids from fish have now been found to benefit both gums and heart, since maintaining healthy gums is one of the keys to general health. Researchers have found that people with gum disease are almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease as those without gum disease, and some studies indicate that there might be a relationship between gum disease and stroke.

“Given the evidence indicating a role for omega-3 fatty acids in other chronic inflammatory conditions, it is possible that treating periodontitis with omega-3 fatty acids could have the added benefit of preventing other chronic diseases associated with inflammation, including cardiovascular disease,” commented lead study author Asghar Naqvi, MPH, MNS, of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Eat your way to healthy gums

The results of this study suggest that you can easily eat enough omega-3 fats to avoid gum disease:

DHA and EPA are found primarily in fish fats, so, help yourself to some fish every week. A 2-ounce serving of wild salmon, halibut, or bluefin or albacore tuna once or twice a week will provide all of the omega-3 fats you need to have healthy gums.

Water-packed canned fish like tuna, sardines, herring, and mackerel are also rich in these fatty acids, and may be easier and less expensive alternatives to fresh or frozen fish.

Beef from grass-fed cows and eggs from chickens whose grain is supplemented with flax meal provide some DHA and EPA.

It is possible that non-fish eaters might achieve some level of gum disease protection from the alpha-linolenic acid found in many plant oils. Flaxseed, hemp seed, walnut, and soybean oils are good sources of ALA, small amounts of which are converted to DHA and EPA in the body.

(J Am Diet Assoc 2010;110:1669–75)

Maureen Williams, ND, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. She has a private practice on Cortes Island in British Columbia, Canada, and has done extensive work with traditional herbal medicine in Guatemala and Honduras. Dr. Williams is a regular contributor to Healthnotes Newswire.

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A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that eating lots of high-glycemic-index foods puts women at higher risk of developing heart disease. The glycemic index is an indicator of how high the carbohydrate portion of a food causes blood sugar (glucose) to rise. The index was developed to help people with diabetes better manage their blood glucose levels. Poor blood sugar control is now recognized as a risk factor for heart disease, even in people without the disease.

Carbohydrates and heart disease

Researchers in Italy followed more than 47,000 people for an average of almost eight years. Diet questionnaires completed at the beginning of the study assessed the amount of carbohydrates and high-glycemic-index and low-glycemic-index foods in the participants’ diets, and their overall dietary glycemic load (another measure of the effects of diet on blood sugar levels). The researchers noted the following:

Women with the highest carbohydrate intake were twice as likely to develop heart disease during the study as women with the lowest intake.

Only high-glycemic-index carbohydrates were associated with heart disease risk; low-glycemic-index carbohydrates were not.

Having a high dietary glycemic load more than doubled the risk of heart disease in women.

No relationship between heart disease and carbohydrate intake, high-glycemic index food consumption, or dietary glycemic load was seen in men.

Not all carbs are created equal

While these findings show that a high-carbohydrate diet can put women at risk for heart disease, it is important to note that complex, low-glycemic-index carbohydrates are not the culprits.

“Our finding that only carbohydrates from high-glycemic-index foods increased cardiac risk suggests that the quality of the carbohydrates is more important than the amount when it comes to preventing heart disease,” said study co-author Dr. Vittorio Krogh of the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan, Italy.

Whole is best. Processed carbohydrates are easier for the body to convert to blood glucose, and therefore have higher glycemic index values than their whole-food sources.

Fruits and vegetables generally have a low glycemic load, but the load goes up when they are dried or juiced.

Glycemic loads for whole grains and whole grain products are generally lower than those for white flour products, white rice, and grains processed in order to be prepared “instantly.”

Beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds are good for the heart and good for keeping your glycemic load down.

(Arch Intern Med 2010;170:640–7)

Maureen Williams, ND, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. She has a private practice on Cortes Island in British Columbia, Canada, and has done extensive work with traditional herbal medicine in Guatemala and Honduras. Dr. Williams is a regular contributor to Healthnotes Newswire.

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If you’ve ever loved a pet, you know the joy an animal can add to your life. Now mounting evidence shows that pets can do a whole lot more for your health and well-being than just bring a smile to your face. Studies suggest that animal companionship can do everything from lowering blood pressure and protecting your heart, to improving self-esteem and helping keep you fit.

“The benefits of pet ownership are probably multifaceted," says Allen R. McConnell, Ph.D., of Miami University in Ohio, whose work “Friends With Benefits: On the Positive Consequences of Pet Ownership” appeared in the July the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “Our paper shows that people whose pets provided greater social needs fulfillment benefited more from owning pets. That is, those who found that their pet contributed to their sense of belongingness, self-worth, perceptions of control, and meaningful existence fared best.”

Physical Benefits of Pets

“In addition to social needs being fulfilled by one's pet, there's evidence of physical benefits,” says McConnell. These include, “getting more exercise, lower amounts of the stress hormone cortisol, and better circulatory functioning. All of these physical benefits, coupled with the psychological benefits, probably account for much of health improvement pet owners seem to enjoy.”

Lower blood pressure

Karen Allen, PhD, and colleagues at The State University of New York at Buffalo, followed 24 hypersensitive stockbrokers who were due to begin drug therapy for high blood pressure. Half the group was assigned randomly to adopt a dog or cat from an animal shelter, while the other half remained petless.

Results showed that medication successfully lowered resting blood pressure for all study participants, but under stressful conditions, those who had adopted a pet experienced half the increase in blood pressure as those without pets.

Heart protection

Blood pressure is only one aspect of health improved by pet ownership. In a 1995 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, researchers followed 369 heart attack survivors, and found that dog owners had only a 1% chance of dying within a year, compared with a 7% chance for those without a dog. And don’t rule out the benefit of cats. Recent research found that people who had a cat at some point in their lives were 37% less likely to die of a heart attack than those who didn’t.

Fewer allergies, more fit

Studies suggest children raised with pets are less likely to develop allergies than those raised without. And when it comes to staying fit, a study published in a 2006 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, revealed that dog owners living in urban areas generally walk almost twice as much than their dog-free neighbors.

Clearly, having a pet to love and be loved by does a lot for one’s health and happiness. Hopefully as evidence mounts, some pharmaceutical solutions to certain health conditions may be replaced by the power of the pet prescription.

7 Ways to Keep Your Pet Healthy

Pets can help keep you healthy, but it’s a two-way street. Here are some easy ways to keep your furry friends happy and in good health:

Proper diet: Explore food options that affect your pet’s health. For example, the label should name quality protein such as lamb or chicken in the top five ingredients. Carbohydrates should be in whole form, and a make up a smaller percentage than the protein and vegetables. You may even want to see if a raw food diet might be right for your cat or dog.

Supplemental nutrition: Work with your veterinarian to discover nutritional boosts that will help keep your pet healthy—longer. For instance, glucosamine supplements are great for helping keep joints pain-free, and fish oil helps your animal maintain a healthy coat. While no one yet knows for sure why cats eat grass, buying or growing cat grass is a good way to give your indoor cat access to potentially important nutrition or fiber.

Dental health: Cats and dogs often require dental cleanings at some point in their lives. However, you can often prevent serious decay by brushing your animal’s teeth at home with pet toothpaste. Specially formulated chews may help prevent tooth decay as well.

Exercise: Make sure you exercise your dog the necessary amount for her needs. If you have an indoor cat or other animal, find toys or perches that encourage exercise and allow for normal physical behaviors such as scratching. Catnip may inspire sluggish felines to get some exercise.

Emotional needs: It is essential to provide for your pet’s emotional needs by spending enough time with them, following consistent routines and boundaries, and making sure their environment is appropriate to their natural needs. Many animals benefit from having specially designated spots to curl up in and, in the case of cats, hide . . .

Skin and grooming: Though pets spend a lot of time grooming themselves, it is important for pet owners to wash, comb, and groom animals, and a wide range of combs and shampoos are available. Flea and tick collars and medicines can help keep animals healthy and pest-free.

Waste management: Dealing with your animal’s waste may be the least fun part of pet ownership, but healthy products can make it easier. Biodegradable poop bags and high-quality kitty litter that minimizes smell and mess can help.

Avocados Linked to Better Health

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Avocados may be one tasty and important ingredient for good health. A study in Nutrition Journal links eating avocados to having fewer risk factors that make up the condition known as metabolic syndrome.

Reasons to eat avocados

In this study, researchers looked at the link between eating avocados and indicators of health, and examined the dietary patterns of 17,567 people, age 19 years and older, in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001 to 2008. Dietary patterns were assessed from 24-hour dietary recall data, and researchers collected physical data from examinations conducted during the survey period.

Results showed that, compared with people who did not eat avocados, people who ate an average of one-half of a medium size avocado per day had:

a better quality of diet overall with more fruits and vegetables and less added sugar.

The study authors comment, “Dietitians can recommend consumption of avocados as part of a healthful diet that focuses on increased fruit and vegetable intake,” and they add that avocados “may be of additional benefit to those who have increased risk for metabolic disease risk factors.”

The authors caution that causal evidence between eating avocados and improvements in health cannot be confirmed by this one study, funded by the Hass Avocado Board, and further research is needed to validate these findings.

What’s in the avocado?

Nutrient-rich fruit. Did you know that an avocado is a fruit and not a vegetable? Avocados are a fruit because they contain a seed. But avocados are lower in sugar compared to many other types of fruit and are rich in fiber and vitamins and minerals, including folate, other B vitamins, and potassium. Adding avocados to a balanced diet may be one way to make sure you get all your daily fruit servings.

“Good” fat benefits. Avocados contain “good” fats known as monounsaturated fatty acids. The study authors point out that these fatty acids help increase the health effects of other nutrients in the salads and salsa that people often eat with avocados. Prior research has linked these fatty acids to better health and lower risk of heart disease. However, because avocados are rich in fat it is wise to eat them in moderation to avoid weight gain.

Talk with a doctor about ways to lower your risk for disease and optimize health and about a diet that is appropriate for you.

(Nutr J 2013, 12:1)

Jane Hart, MD, board-certified in internal medicine, serves in a variety of professional roles including consultant, journalist, and educator. Dr. Hart, a Clinical Instructor at Case Medical School in Cleveland, Ohio, writes extensively about health and wellness and a variety of other topics for nationally recognized organizations, websites, and print publications. Sought out for her expertise in the areas of integrative and preventive medicine, she is frequently quoted by national and local media. Dr. Hart is a professional lecturer for healthcare professionals, consumers, and youth and is a regular corporate speaker.

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Now there’s even more evidence to support the recommendation to beef up on whole grains. A study of more than 200 people at risk for heart disease shows that just three servings of whole grains per day can significantly lower blood pressure, possibly preventing heart disease and stroke.

We’ve known for some time that whole grains can support overall health, with studies suggesting that they might help with everything from lowering cholesterol levels to improving insulin sensitivity and decreasing cancer risk.

The study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked more closely at how whole grains might help improve heart health—by measuring blood pressure, cholesterol levels, markers of inflammation, and insulin sensitivity in 206 people between ages 40 and 65. All of the people were at somewhat high risk for heart disease; some were overweight, most were relatively inactive, and many had metabolic syndrome (a cluster of heart disease risk factors) or moderately elevated cholesterol levels.

After four weeks of eating a diet that included only refined grains, the people were split into two groups. One group was prescribed a diet rich in whole grains, including either three servings of whole wheat foods per day (70 to 80 grams of whole wheat bread and 30 to 40 grams of whole wheat cereals) or one serving of whole wheat and two servings of oats per day. The other group was instructed to continue eating refined grains.

Lowering blood pressure one bite at a time

After 12 weeks, systolic blood pressure decreased significantly among those people eating whole grains compared with those in the refined grains group. Reducing blood pressure by this amount could translate to a 15% drop in the incidence of heart disease and a 25% decrease in stroke.

Markers of inflammation and insulin sensitivity were not that different between groups, but cholesterol levels actually went down slightly in the refined grains group.

Intake of several vitamins, including vitamins B6 and D, was much lower in the whole grains group, presumably because of fortification of the refined grains. “Such fortification did not appear to have any cardiovascular benefits, however,” said the study’s lead author, Paula Tighe, MD. “This may indicate that the potential bioactivity of the micronutrients is more marked when part of the natural grain product is present compared with the fortified foods.”

Getting your grains

Making whole grains a regular part of your diet is easier than ever, with whole grain versions of virtually every food popping up on grocers’ shelves everywhere. Whole grain pastas are easy to find (and tastier than in the past), as are whole wheat and multigrain breads. White whole wheat flour can turn even the most finicky eater into a whole grain-lover.

(Am J Clin Nutr 2010;92:733–40)

Kimberly Beauchamp, ND, received her doctoral degree from Bastyr University, the nation’s premier academic institution for science-based natural medicine. She co-founded South County Naturopaths in Wakefield, RI, where she practiced whole family care with an emphasis on nutritional counseling, herbal medicine, detoxification, and food allergy identification and treatment. Her blog, Eat Happy, helps take the drama out of healthy eating with real food recipes and nutrition news that you can use. Dr. Beauchamp is a regular contributor to Healthnotes Newswire.